Al Baraka Bank, registered in South Africa since 1989, pioneered Islamic banking in this country in response to an identified need for a system of banking which adhered to Islamic economic principles. The bank, with its Head Office in Durban and a strategically located national branch network, is South Africa’s only fully-fledged Islamic bank and is a subsidiary of the international Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C., which has established one of the largest international Islamic banking groups in the world.

The Group’s banking units include:

Banque AI Baraka D’Algerie, Algeria;

Al Baraka Islamic Bank, Bahrain;

Egyptian Saudi Finance Bank, Egypt;

Jordan Islamic Bank, Jordan;

AI Baraka Bank Lebanon, Lebanon;

AI Baraka Islamic Bank Pakistan, Pakistan;

Al Baraka Bank South Africa, South Africa;

Al Baraka Bank Sudan, Sudan;

Al Baraka Bank Tunisia, Tunisia;

Al Baraka Turk Participation Bank, Turkey;

Al Baraka Bank Syria (under formation), Syria;

as well as having Al Baraka Banking Group representative offices in Indonesia and Libya.

The South African subsidiary’s Al Baraka Banking Group linkage provides it with the springboard for significant growth potential and assists in the positioning of Al Baraka Bank at the leading edge of Islamic banking in this country. Al Baraka Bank operates in an important and rapidly growing niche market. Since inception, the bank has shown impressive growth and the continued increasing demand for Al Baraka products and services is considered as being a direct consequence of its Shariah compliance. In this regard, the bank enjoys the support of regular internal Shariah audits, whilst its Shariah Department works closely with an Independent Shariah Supervisory Board to ensure compliance with Islamic economic principles.

Al Baraka’s growth and development is attributed to its niche market’s faith and confidence in the bank’s ability to implement and further develop a viable alternative to interest-based banking in South Africa. The bank’s track-record to date is indicative of a growing acceptance and confidence in an alternate system of banking in South Africa, creating the ideal platform for Al Baraka Bank to increase its footprint in South Africa’s Islamic financial sector.